One of my pet peeves is when people try to solve problems via email. You’ve been there: someone words an email awkwardly or brusquely, offense is taken, someone else responds in an inflammatory way, often copying several additional people. Blind copying and forwarding present additional layers of challenge.
Here’s what I am wondering…. What would it look like to apply biblical principles to email? I’m thinking of the golden rule and “a gentle answer turns away wrath.” But there are more. What other principles do you think would apply? And equally importantly, what would it look like if we applied them?
Sometimes the best place to start is just asking the question, “Would a conversation be more helpful?” Often you can have a brief conversation and get the matter resolved in a few minutes and save yourself dozens of people-hours, misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and confusion. What else have you found?
I’ve learned that there are some people who I will almost ALWAYS call instead of trying to resolve challenges through email. I learned that the hard way by trying to be efficient! These people are very sensitive to non-verbal cues like tone which is totally absent from email. Though initially it feels like an inconvenience to rely on ‘old’ technology like the phone, I’ve found that the human connection and to be so much more efficient in the long run. Thanks for the reminder